An elongated device may be thrown among participants in a game in any number of ways. Aerodynamically, however, an elongated device is most efficiently thrown when the thrower can cause the elongated device to rotate about the longitudinal or major axis of the throwing device. An elongated device rotating stably about the major axis will have a longer flight and may be thrown with greater accuracy. To this end, several modifications to improve the rotational stability of throwing devices have been suggested.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,000,451 to MacDonald et al., 4,003,574 to MacDonald et al. and 3,884,446 to MacDonald et al. describe a football with an air passageway which tapers to a constricted opening midway through the passageway and various weighting methods to provide rotational stability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,948 to Thomas teaches a football with fins attached to an air passageway to increase rotation of the ball.
In addition to footballs, other unusual oblong throwing devices have been suggested. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,925,195 to DiManno and 4,339,138 to DiManno describe a throwing device with a gripping surface and an air passageway which tapers to a constricted opening midway through the passageway.